Authorities still seeking gunmen in Oakland freeway shootout

OAKLAND -- What ignited a dangerous shootout between the occupants of two cars Wednesday night on Interstate 580 in East Oakland was still being investigated Friday by police and the CHP.

Authorities said since the shooting, which happened about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, no one has shown up at a hospital with gunshot wounds, although the two cars left behind -- a 2006 Pontiac Grand Am and a 2001 Audi A6 -- were both riddled with bullets.

CHP Officer Sam Morgan said Friday even though both vehicles had multiple bullet holes, there was no sign of blood in either of them. He said shortly after the shooting, a 16-year-old boy who was in the Audi, was found with a sprained ankle on Sunnymere Avenue, which is near the Seminary Avenue offramp where one of the cars was abandoned. Morgan did not know whether the boy had told the investigators anything or if he remains hospitalized.

Authorities believe the two cars got onto the westbound lanes of I-580 at Edwards Avenue. It was not known whether the occupants exchanged gunfire before entering the freeway, authorities said.

Police think it is likely the combatants knew each other and that the shootout was a result of drug or gang activity that may have involved retaliation for a previous shooting.

Morgan said several witnesses saw the shooting and called 911 while it was happening.

The shooting left a trail of shell casings and ended moments later more than a mile west at the Seminary Avenue offramp. The Pontiac stopped in the center divider and its occupants fled, some across the eastbound lanes of the freeway, and the Audi stopped on the offramp with its occupants fleeing onto city streets. Morgan said there were multiple occupants in both cars.

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Morgan said it was "amazing that given the number of shots fired and that it was on a busy freeway, it's a blessing that no one was hit or killed."

Morgan said DMV records indicate the Audi is registered to someone in Oakland and the Pontiac to someone in Berkeley. The case is still being investigated.

Anyone with information about the shooting can call the CHP at 1-800-TELLCHP or 510-450-3821 or Oakland police at 510-238-3821.